I’ve recently received an email by somebody who wondered whether I’d be willing to spread the word of his contest and whether I knew anybody willing to sponsor prizes. When I started running the One Page Dungeon Contest I decided that I’d document my “process” and make this information public so that anybody who is willing to put in the hours can kickstart their own process.
The page Comments on One Page Dungeon Contest 2012 is a good place to start. It has a *checklist* with all the things you need to think of. It has copies of all the *announcements* I wrote (click *Edit this page* at the bottom to get the bbCode format which you can then easily adapt and paste into you own announcements on most forums); it has copies of the postings themselves (effectively listing all the forums I posted to); it also has links to the Twitter account, Facebook page and Google+ page I used to spread the word; it also has copies of *the emails I wrote to past and new sponsors*. If you want to build a list of sponsors, I think your best bet is to just write to as many publishers as you can think of and post an open call for sponsors in your announcement. It takes time, but the lists of past sponsors gives you a head start.
Comments on One Page Dungeon Contest 2012
All of the sponsors I contacted were super nice. The worst that ever happened was that a person I contacted did not reply. No harm done! One prospective sponsor also wanted me to sign a contract I found unacceptable, but the people I was in touch with were all extremely friendly. So, my conclusion is that it never hurts to ask nicely.
I even kept my todo list online. I guess there is not much interesting to learn from that. It was mostly stuff I wanted to write down in the months preceding the official announcement in order to not forget anything. Sponsors that contacted me ahead of time. Judges who volunteered ahead of time.
There are similar pages for 2010, 2011 and 2013. You also need to figure out how to distribute prizes. Back in 2011 I wrote bout the tricky balance of privacy and transparency. You will also need to think about licensing issues. People will discuss it online. No matter how obvious you think it is, there will always be people who don’t understand how it works and who feel entitled to be as rude as they want. You’ll need to be able to handle this, too.
the tricky balance of privacy and transparency
who don’t understand how it works
who feel entitled to be as rude as they want
Anyway. Take a look at the notes I wrote in 2012. Anybody can do it. The question is... *Do you want to run the One Page Dungeon Contest 2014?*
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For now, take a look at these two upcoming contests:
ok: 😄
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Case in point, today Stuart’s announcement says “All entries will be collected into one PDF released under the creative commons license.” Given my past interactions with angry dudes on the Internet makes me wonder: Which CC license? And will participants understand that depending on the exact license anybody can take the PDF and release a print product, and ask money for it? I recommend being *as precise as possible*. ;)
Read Choose a License on the Creative Comons web site.
Allow modifications of your work?
YesNoYes, as long as others share alike
Allow commercial uses of your work?
YesNo
To answer the last question, you might want to read Defining Noncommercial on the Creative Commons website. Consider this sentence in the executive summary, for example: “Both creators and users generally consider uses that earn users money or involve online advertising to be commercial”. Remember how many websites that might offer the PDF for download also involve online advertising.
And then there’s Other criticism of the non-commercial license on Wikipedia to consider...
Other criticism of the non-commercial license
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I also recommend reading Free Culture. 😄
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The importance of Unprofessionalism.
#RPG #1PDC